Grain gate



Sept. 25, 1956 A. A. ANDERSON GRAIN GATE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 29, 1952 INVENTOR Arzhur 14. Anderson .F" 3 7 BY QM m@ ATTORNEY Sept. 25, 1956 Filed March 29, 195? A. A. ANDERSON GRAIN GATE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 5 kl 36 BY *35 Ar'fhur' 14. Anderson ATTORNEY United States Patent GRAIN GATE Arthur A. Anderson, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to The Specialty Mfg. Co., St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application March 29, 1952, Serial No. 279,405

4 Claims. (Cl. 20-32) This invention relates to an improvement in grain gate and deals particularly with a door slidably supported in a truck body or in a bin which may be opened to discharge grain or some other commodity.

Truck bodies used for carrying grain are sometimes provided with a door which may be opened to discharge the contents of the body. As the inside of the door is under pressure of grain within the body, the doors are often slidable so that they may be readily opened and closed when necessary. Similar doors are, sometimes employed in bins or storage tanks where somewhat similar problems are involved.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a grain gate which may be easily opened and closed and which may be locked in either extreme position. When the gate is in open position it is desirable that the door remain open without being held in this position.

The present construction is so devised as to accomplish this result.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a slidable door which is movable between two extreme positions by a pivotally supported operating member which is pivoted at fixed points on opposite sides of the door. Links connect the operating handle member with the body of the door so that pivotal movement of the operating handle acts through the connecting links to move the door. Thus the pull upon the door tending to slide the same toward either extreme position is equalized on opposite sides of the door, thus preventing the door from cocking or tilting in its supporting tracks.

A further feature of the present invention resides in providing a door with a generally U-shaped operating member which is hingedly connected at opposite ends to the door frame. Links connect opposite sides of this operating handle to the door in such a way that thelinks and the opposite sides of the operating handle may swing into alignment or slightly past alignment. When the links are aligned with the sides of the operating handle, a dead center arrangement is produced which locks the door from movement. If the operating handle is moved slightly past dead center, any tendency for the door to move in an opposite direction tends to swing the operating handle against the body of the truck or against the door itself, thus locking the door from movement.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a friction engagement between the links and the operating lever which tend to hold the operating lever in either extreme position. This friction isapplied only when the door moves into and out of either extreme position and does not operate during the intermediate portion of travel of the door.

Another feature of the present invention lies in the simplicity of the present construction and the ease with which it can be produced. As the structure is economical to make, it may be sold at reasonable cost.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

2,763,901 Patented Sept. 25, 1956 In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the door in closed position.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the door in open position.

Figure 3 is a sectional view through the door showing the same in partially open position.

Figure 4 is a view showing a modified form of a detailed portion of the door.

Figure 5 is a sectional view through the locking hasp portion of the door.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 showing a modified form of construction. v g

The door or gate is indicated in general by the letter A, and is usually used in conjunction with a truck or wagon body B. While the door illustrated is particularly useful in conjunction with grain, obviously the door may be used in conjunction with other commodities. Furthermore, while the grain gate illustrated is most commonly used on truck or wagon bodies, it may be used in bins, storage tanks and the like.

The door A includes a door panel 10 which is slidably supported in a pair of spaced tracks 11 and 12. The tracks 11 and 12 are similar in construction but are reversed. Each track includes an anchoring flange 13 which is connected by an off-set 14 to a guide flange 15. The guide flange 15. is preferably in a plane parallel to the plane of the anchoring flange 13 and spaced therefrom a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the door panel 10. Thus the side edges of the door panel 10 are confined between the guide flange 15 and the panel 16 of the body B. The tracks 11 and 12 are arranged in parallel relation and are usually vertical as the door panel 10 normally slides upwardly and downwardly.

A pair of angle brackets 17 and 19 are welded or otherwise secured to the flanges 15 of the tracks 11 and 12. Each of the angle brackets includes an anchored flange 20 which is welded or otherwise secured to the flange 15 and a right angularly extending flange 21. As the flanges 15 of the two tracks are arranged in a common plane, the flanges 21 of the angle brackets are in parallel planes. Apertured pivot openings are provided in the angle brackets to support hinge pins or pivots 22 and 23. The pivots 22 and 23 which may be in the form of headed rivets are axially aligned.

The pivots 22 and 23 support a generally U-shaped handle element 24. The handle element 24 includes two generally parallel side arms 25 and 26 which are bent to form converging arm portions 27 and 29. The extremities of the converging handle portions 27 and 29 are connected by a connecting handle 30. The U-shaped handle member 24 is preferably formed of strap iron or the like and the connecting handle portion 30 is usually bent or twisted at right angles so that the portion 30 extends substantially parallel to the door panel 10 in either extreme position of the handle. The connecting handle portion 30 may be provided with an elongated slot 31 therethrough designed to accommodate a locking hasp 32.

The hasp 32 is best illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawings. It is shown as including an anchoring flange 33 which is welded or otherwise affixed to the surface of the door panel 10 and includes an angularly extending flange 34'which is substantially normal to the plane of the door panel 10. As illustrated in Figure 5 the free end -of the flange 34 may be curved upwardly slightly so that the handle member may swing out of the path of .the flange 34 without enlarging the handle slot 31 to any great extent. An aperture 35 through the flange 34 lies outwardly of the handle member 30 in closed position of the g door and may be used to accommodate the locking arm of a padlock 36.

The door panel is provided with a pair of opposed angle brackets 37 and 39 which are located near opposite side edges of the panel; The angle brackets 37 and, 39 each include an anchoring flange 40 and a right angularly extending flange 41, the flanges 41 of the two brackets being arranged in parallel planes. The flanges 40 are apertured to accommodate pivots 42 and 43 wh1ch may be in the form of headed rivets or the like. The pivots 42 and 43 secure the brackets 37 and 39- to links 45 and 46. These links are pivotally connected at 47 and 49 respectively to the parallel arm portions and 26 of the handle 24-. The pivots enter the parallel portions 25 and 26 at points spaced between the pivots 2'2 and 2-3 and the point of bend. where the parallel arm-s merge to form the converging arm portions 27' and 29. Thus in either extreme position of the handle member 24 the links 45 and 46 extend in side by side relation with the arms 25 and 26 for an appreciable distance.

Each of the links 45 and- 46- are provided with an indentation such as the indentation 50' in the arm 45. These indentations form a projection 51. on the opposite side of the link 45. The projections 51' are arranged to contact the parallel arms 25 and 26 of the handle member 24 and to resist pivotal movement between these parts. In other words, when the door is in the position illustrated in Figure l, the projections 51 frictionally engage the arms 25 and 26 and resist the outward swinging of the handle member 24 until the projections swing out of engagement with the arms 25 and 26. Thereafter the handle member 24 will swing more freely and with less resistance until the handle member approaches the position shown in Figure 2. Nearing this point, the projections 51 again contact the arms 25 and 26 and resist the movement of the handle unit into the. extreme position shown in Fig.- ure 2. This tends to hold the handle in its upper extreme position until it is manually engaged and swung downwardly.

Thus it will be seen that the swinging. movement of the handle lever 24 is resisted near each extreme position of the handle member, but is unimpeded in. intermediate positions thereof. This insures the desirable friction to hold the handle in a set position when the door is either open or closed and still permits free movement of the arm at all other times.

The tracks 11 and 12 are secured to the panel: 16 by bolts or screws 52 on opposite sides of an opening 53 in the panel 16. The opening 53 is obviously slightly smaller than the door panel 10 so that in closed position the panel 10 slightly overlaps the edges of the panel 16 encircling the opening 53. The lower edge of the panel 10 may be positioned to overlap the lower edge of the opening or this lower edge may merely abut against the bottom panel 54 of the body B when the door or gate is closed. As the handle member 24 is swung outwardly from the position shown in Figure 1, the links 45 and 46 are drawn upwardly, thus exerting an upward pull upon the door panel 10. It. is interestingto note that in each extreme position. of the door panel 10,, the outward swinging of the handle member 24 will cause relatively little movement of the panel until the: handle has swung, through several degrees. This feature is of value as the leverage exerted by the handle upon the door is greatest near the extreme positions where it is best needed. This arrangement also tends to open the door slowly at first and to increase the rapidity of movement until the door is approximately half way up, whereupon the speed of motion diminishes in proportion to the speed of movement of the handle.

The brackets 17 and 19 to which the handle member 24 is pivoted and the brackets 37 and 39 to which the links 45 and 46 are pivoted are so proportioned that in either extreme position the pivots connecting the links and lever to each other and to the door and frame moveat least into alignment. Stated in other words, the. pivot 47 moves at least into a plane including the axes of the pivots 22 and 42 when the door is in either extreme position. As a result the arms 25 and 45 form toggle links which move at least into a dead center position in which the door panel can not be moved unless the links are moved. As the projections 51 provide friction tending to hold the parts in set relation in either extreme position of the door, the handle member and the links are locked effectively both while the door is open and while it is closed. Preferably, the pivot 47 swings slightly past the plane including the axes of the pivots 22 and 42 so that any tendency for the door to move tends to swing the handle lever againsct the panel 16 or the door panel 10.

In Figure 4 of the drawings is disclosed a modified form of constructioninwhich the friction applied between the links and the handle lever is adjustable. In this view a link 55 is illustrated which may be virtually identical with either the link 45 or the link 46. A threaded aperture 56 is provided in' the link 55 to accommodate a set screw 57'. A look nut 59 may be used to hold the set screw 57 in adjusted position. The set screw 57 is provided with a rounded extremity 60 which may bear against the handle unit in the same way as the projection 51 to apply friction between the link and the handle unit.

In Figure 6 of the drawings is disclosed a modified form of construction in which the locking hasp serves to frict ionall y engage the operating handle to hold the handle in one extreme position. The hasp 61 is welded or'otherwise connected tothe door panel 62 which may be identical to the panel 10. The locking lever 24 is identical in structure to that previously described. The slot 31 is designed to accommodate the projecting flange 63 of the hasp 61.

The flange 63 is formed of material sufficiently resilient to spring out of normal shape as the handle 24 engages the same. The flange 63 is shown as inclining downwardly slightly as illustrated at 64 and is provided with a downwardly directed bulge 65 inwardly of the padlock aperture 66. The extremity of the flange 63 is turned upwardly so as to guide the hasp into the handle aperture as the door is closed. It will be obvious that the flanges 64 must spring upwardly to some extent as the handle 24 is. disengaged, thus forming a spring friction latch to hold the handle 24 in closed position.

It will be seen that when the body B is filled with grain or other material to a point above the level of the door p ane]. 10, there will be internal pressure against this door or gate. As the handle 24 is swung outwardly, the upward movement of the door panel is slightly compressed to the. distance of movement of the handle lever, thus increasing the leverage tending to open the door. As the door moves upwardly into its mid-position the pressure against the door panel is decreased due to the fact that the grain is. flowing from the door and accordingly the force against the door decreases as the speed of movement of the opening door increases. As the handle 24 swung past center position the speed of movement of the door decreases in relation, the door moving a relatively distance during the last few degrees of movementof the handle lever.

In accordance with the patent statutes, the principles of construction and operation of the grain gate construction. have been described, and while it has been endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, it is desired to: have it. understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A slide gate including a door panel, a pair of guides on opposite sides of said door panel in parallel relation, slidably supporting said door panel, l3. pair of pivot supports secured to said guides to project at right angles to said door panel, a generally U-shlaped handle having relatively flat substantially parallel frame sides, pivots extending through said fiat sides 'and through said pivot supports to pivotally connect the same, a pair of ears projecting in parallel relation from said door panel, a flat link connecting each of said ears with a corresponding side of said U-shaped handle, said links and the parallel sides of said handle being parallel and substantially in surfiace contact, pivots connecting said links to said arms at points spaced from the pivots connecting said U-shaped handle and said pivot supports, said pivot supports being inwardly of said handle and links and means on said links for frictionally engaging said handle when said links and handle are substantially aligned.

2. The construction described in claim 1 and including cooperable mean-s on each link and on a corresponding side of said handle including a projection on one of said parts and an indentation in the other of said parts interfitting when said links are aligned with the sides of said handle.

3. A construction described in claim 1 and including a twisted portion in said handle which is substantially p anallel with the door panel in open and closed position of said door panel, said twisted portion being spaced from the outer surface and said door panel in closed position thereof.

4. A vertical slide gate including a door panel, a pair of guides on opposite sides of said door panel in parallel relation and -slidiably supporting said door panel, a pair of pivot supports secured to said guide to extend inwardly therefrom and project at right angles to the plane of said door panel, [a handle having substantially parallel sides extending in a plane normally perpendicular to the plane of the door in its closed and completely opened position, pivots extending through said sides and through said pivot supports to pivotally connect the same, a pair of ears projecting in parallel relation from said door p anel, a link connecting each of said ears with a relative corresponding parallel side of said handle, said links and the parallel sides of said handle being in parallel relationship and substantially in surface contact, means providing a frictional engagement between said handle and said links when said parallel h anclle sides and said links are substantially aiigned, and a resilient friction means engageable between said door and said handle to hold the same in a predetermined relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,496,551 McCulloch June 3, 1924 1,574,031 Hecht Feb. 23, 1926 1,829,169 Thieman Oct. 27, 1931 

